Indian Women in IT Find Way to Corner Offices

After taking over the banking and finance field, Indian women are taking over the IT industry. Chanda Kochhar – MD & CEO ICICI, Naina Lal Kidwai – GM & Country Head HSBC, Shikha Sharma – MD & CEO Axis Bank, Vishakha Mulye – MD & CEO ICICI Venture, Kalpana Morparia – CEO JP Morgan, Manisha Girotra – Head Moelis Bank etc have blazed the trail for Indian women in the business filed. Now their counterparts in IT are following suit.

On Thursday, technology services company IBM announced that Vanitha Narayanan will take over as the India managing director, adding heft to a growing community of powerful women running Indian operations for technology multinationals such as HP, Intel and Capgemini. This is in stark contrast to Indian IT services companies, where despite a higher intake of women – up to 35% – at entry level, few make it up the ladder to senior roles and fewer still find positions at board level. ET takes a look at some of the Indian women who have found their way to the corner offices:

Aruna Jayanthi, CEO, Capgemini India

The 49-year-old Capgemini veteran is a walking history of the French company’s evolution in India. An alumna of Mumbai-based Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Jayanthi joined Capgemini in 2000, as part of the core team responsible for setting up the company’s offshore business here. In a few years, she moved up the ladder to a global role as the head of delivery at the company’s outsourcing division. In her current role, she is responsible for leading the consulting, technology services and outsourcing services for Capgemini India that has about 40,000 employees. Jayanthi was ranked the third most powerful business woman in India in 2012 by Fortune magazine.

Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Director, IBM India

Working at the computer-maker-turned-services major since 1987, Narayanan has handled multiple roles across divisions, working with large clients of the company. During her 25-year stint at IBM, Narayanan has worked in various divisions like communications, media and entertainment, telecommunications, and utilities in the Asia-Pacific region. Narayanan moved to India in 2009, as head of sales and distribution for India and South Asia region where she had revenue and marketshare responsibilities. Within a year, she was elevated as managing partner for the global business services division with responsibility for India and South Asia.

Kumud Srinivasan, President, Intel India

She manages chipmaker Intel’s largest non-manufacturing site outside the US — the India unit that employs about 3,500 engineers. Srinivasan has been with Intel for over a quarter of a century. Prior to being appointed as the president of India region, she was vice-president and general manager heading Intel’s IT division. Srinivasan has also led Intel’s internal consulting practice. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Calcutta University in 1981 and a post-graduate degree in information and library studies from Syracuse University, New York, in 1984.

Neelam Dhawan, MD, Hewlett-Packard India

Dhawan, 52, was among the first women chiefs of a technology firm in the country, when she became India head of the world’s largest software company, Microsoft, in 2005. She now heads India operations for computer-maker Hewlett-Packard. Her role also straddles the services and offshoring division, which was added to the company’s portfolio post the EDS acquisition. Before joining HP, Dhawan ran Microsoft’s India operations between 2005 and 2008. She has also had stints at HCL and IBM. An economics graduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, Dhawan did her MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.